In the cold night, the air breeze through the castle walls. A garden full of white roses symbolizes its purity and innocence. Above the garden was a balcony of The Silver-Tongued Princess, the only daughter of the emperor among his three sons. The princess was on her balcony staring at the night sky. She was smiling waiting for the guest to arrive. A minute later, a loud thud was coming from her bedroom door and noises of people. The thought of people shouting makes her think of her pet dog that is barking without a leash. The banging became louder and louder, but she was still standing on the same spot not moving, waiting for them to enter the room. She fully knows why they're at her door, it means her plan was successful.
"Mn…" she humm.
The banging then stops. It seems like someone important has arrived.
[Meanwhile outside]
"You're Royal highness! Open the door!" the knights yelled.
" We are ordered by his imperial majesty to arrest Princess Marietta Sasha Aurelthain, for attempting to poison Lady Elise and treason!" The vice commander spoke with a hostile tone.
For a while the princess still hadn't responded. The commander finally lost it, it had been a minute but there was still no word. The commander was about to break open the door not until the Crown prince and second prince arrived.
"Whats going on?" the Crown prince demanded.
"Your royal highnesses crown prince and second prince. The princess still hasn't open her door and we were just about to break open—"
"There's no need to explain, just go on with it." The crown prince cuts him off from his sentence. His facial expression darkens.
"If she's that scared to come out, then why start a war? She only causes trouble." the second prince stated in a sarcastic tone.
Once they were given the order by the crown prince they used magic stones to break the door. The door begins to crack then scattered to pieces. Inside of her bedroom were scattered glass pieces and vases. It was dark, the only thing that had light in it was the moonlight that was shining through her balcony. The two princes entered her chamber, getting disgusted by the site around them. They spotted her on the balcony, her back facing them. She wore a white silk nightgown that reflected from the bright moonlight. The princes went closer to her, walking past her bed.
"Sasha we had enough of your games, surrender now Father was very disappointed. You should know the consequences for your actions."
He exclaimed, while the crown prince stayed silent. Observing the surroundings making sure there's no trap set up.
"Hah" she laughed, short and sharp, like spitting glass.
"Oh, you're pretty confident."
The laughter kept going—longer than it should have—turning into something dark, cruel, and echoing with a madness that didn't need words to be understood. She turned to them, their eyes met but something was wrong. The crown prince felt the dark energy coming from her body, knowing if the body is full with dark energy it'll go berserk, he immediately tried to calm her with words, the second prince also noticed it and joined in to calm her down but it was no use she's already not in her mind, she couldn't hear them at all and was misleading their actions as trying to harm her. She goes berserk, taking a step back forward. The princes seeing this tried to get close to her. They took a step forward trying to reach her hand. She was clasping her other hand to her head while her left hand reached to her side and pulled out a knife, pointing it on them. A trauma was triggered
"Stay away from me!" she shouted out of anger while biting her lower lips constantly.
"Do you think you could lock me up again in that cold room alone?! Well then? Once I die this empire will be ruined"
Before they could reach her, she stabbed herself in the stomach. She stumbled backwards, the back of her waist hit the stone railings. She coughs up blood vision blurring. She smiled before falling off the balcony. She fell on top of her flower garden, blood splatter around the white roses staining it. After a week the imperial family kept a secret of the wicked princess' death, they stated it was an illness causing her to end her life, the people from villages and nobles didn't feel mournful or care. All they thought was that the troublesome princess was finally dead. Time passed and everything went back to normal and soon people began to forget about the princess. For some time Lady Elise, who was favored by the princes and the duke, spent their days as usual. Lady Elise was having tea with the ladies gossiping about the third prince coming back from a foreign land.
"I heard the third prince is coming back from his studies." Her voice was soft but steady, as she sipped her tea elegantly.
"Really? We're, did you hear it, Lady Evelyne? " Lady Jane asked her with a light and refined tone.
"I also heard the third prince was studying at the academy from another empire." Another lady chimed in.
"Oh, I heard it from my—"
Beep.
My screen dimmed.
Low Battery. 5% Remaining.
I blinked. "I heard it from my who?"
I tapped the screen like a maniac. Nothing. Just that cursed notification, floating there like it knew it was ruining my life.
"No. Not now. Don't you dare die on me, you traitor!" I scrambled for the charger like my life depended on it—because, honestly, it kind of did.
A minute later I finally found my charger under the bed, I quickly plugged the head of the charger and plugged the other end of the charger to my phone. Finally the notification was gone.
"Haha finally I can read again.." I open the app again and click chapter 89. When I click the chapter it suddenly glitch.
"Eh?!! Wtf why did it glitch? Damn it, is my phone broken or something? Ugh…" Her voice was sharp and flustered, bouncing between disbelief and irritation.
She sighed, and put down her phone.
Ugh… well I guess I should stop reading for now. Though I wonder what would be the third prince's personality? Nah, maybe I should stop thinking about it.
I stared blankly at the wall, my eyes kept trying to close until I gave in and fell asleep on the bed, hugging my wei wuxian body pillow. At dawn I woke up to a sore throat. Eyes still half-shut, I sat up slowly, groped around for the water bottle on the bedside table, and took a few sips. While I took a sip of water, a shadow caught my attention. At first I ignored it and just went to bed, but as soon as I took my eyes off it, the shadow started moving forward. As I position my pillow a large shadow like a humanoid covers the light. My heart was pounding, hands shaking, I turned my head around to see a face like a human but only had a mouth that was smiling creepily, its face like a void ready to gobble me up. The more I look at it the smile grows bigger. My heart was pounding fast and the lights were flickering non-stop. The lights then went off, the only thing she could see was pitch black, darkness soon consumed me.
Then…
The bed was surprisingly soft and warm. I rolled over to the side hugging the pillow.
She rolled over in her sleep—and kept rolling.
With a muffled thud and a startled yelp, she hit the floor in a tangle of blankets and limbs.
"AH! What the heck!!" I sat up slowly, confusion swirling inside me. "Was it a nightmare?.. but that thing looked really real." I stammered. After calming down I noticed the blankets I used were not the same as the one I used last night.
"Huh… didn't I use my white quilt blanket? Why is it so soft and comfy… Ehh?!" I looked up and was amazed by the structure of the room. The room was nothing like anything in the modern world—ornate curtains, gold furniture, sparkling crystals and marble floor. It was like you're in a historical novel, everything you could've imagined.
"Woah!.. this room looks exactly like in a historical novel.. But wait a minute if I'm here that means I'm still having a nightmare but this is too realistic to be a nightmare…" I question myself.
"Oh well if I'm really having a nightmare I should wake up if I slap myself right?" I raised my hand and gave a big slap–SMACK! The sound echoed in the room as my palm hit my face. I checked if it works but I was still in the room. I slapped myself again and again but nothing happened.
"Huh? But I slap myself hard, how come im–Ow" I looked down at my hands. The palm was all red and swollen, then I realized my hands were. Small. Delicate. "What the hell–"
All of a sudden my head started throbbing, I clenched my fist with my other hand on my head. "Agh! Why is it throbbing so much…" I can feel some bandage around my head. I hastily stumbled to the mirror across the room to check my head.
What I saw made my heart stop.
What…
A child. Around 11 years old. Crimson red eyes. Smooth wavy pink hair. Pale face. And a white bandage wrapped around her forehead.
I tilted my head, brows knitting together.
"This… why does this face look familiar…" The memory was just out of reach—faint, like a name on the tip of her tongue.